The Kim Davis saga has become a real life version of a soap opera, with a new and different twist every day. Davis was freed from jail on September 8 by the same judge who put her there for contempt. Judge David Bunning ordered her release, and said that he was satisfied that the clerk’s office was now issuing marriage licenses according to the law. Davis’s attorneys have hinted that when she returns to work, she will once again instruct employees in her office to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But one of her deputies is saying that, if necessary, he will disobey that order.

Brian Mason is the deputy clerk who issued the first license to a same-sex couple after Davis was taken into custody last week. Last Friday, Mason hung a sign in front of his desk that read “marriage license deputy” as he went to work. Previously, Mason had been seen on camera, apologizing to a couple whose request for a license was turned down by Davis.

According to the Associated Press, Mason said that when Davis returns to work, he will continue to issue marriage licenses to any couples who are legally entitled to request one. He said that if Davis tells him to stop, he will tell her “no.” In her absence, the office has issued 10 marriage licenses. Seven of those have gone to same-sex couples.

Out of six deputy clerks in the office, five agreed to issue the licenses, which is what won Davis her freedom. The sixth, Davis’s son, continues to refuse, but Judge Bunning chose not to place him in jail with his mother. So far, Mason is the only deputy who has indicated that he will follow what the law requires, and issue marriage licenses to all couples in defiance of Davis.

In a related issue, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports that marriage licenses issued by the Rowan County clerk’s office since last Friday are missing Davis’s name. Kentucky’s Democratic governor, Steve Beshear, has said that the licenses are valid, even without Davis’s name. But Davis’s lawyer, Mat Staver, said that those licenses “are not worth the paper that they are written on.” Be prepared for this to be the next battle in the ongoing saga of Kim Davis’s attempt to place her religious beliefs over the law.

Davis’s freedom is contingent on her office continuing to issue marriage licenses. But it remains to be seen whether Mason’s issuing of licenses against an expected order from Davis for him not to do so will be enough to keep her from winding up back in jail. Stay tuned for the next episode of our drama.

Here’s a report on Brian Mason issuing the first marriage licenses to same-sex couples, via WDRB:

Author: Wes WilliamsWes Williams is a lifelong political junkie, stuck in the red end of blue Delaware, where he lives near the beaches with his wife of 33 years and three cats. While politics of all sorts are his passion, he is particularly interested in issues involving labor, education, and the justice system.
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